


We Can Do Better Than This

by asroarke



Series: I'm Gonna Leave You Anyway [3]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, POV Bellamy, but being stubborn about admitting it, commitment issues, they're already basically married
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-19
Updated: 2017-10-19
Packaged: 2019-01-19 09:13:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12407451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asroarke/pseuds/asroarke
Summary: “And if we couldn’t find an apartment, maybe we could look at a house. You know, then Cleo could have a backyard,” Bellamy replied.“A house?” Clarke asked, and Bellamy glanced back down at her, seeing a nervous expression on her face. He immediately recognized his mistake.A follow up to I'm Gonna Leave You Anyway, where Bellamy and Clarke buy their first house.





	We Can Do Better Than This

**Author's Note:**

> I needed a bit of a fluff break from my current fic, Something Always Survives, so I threw down some commitment issue-filled fluff for you guys. You don't really need to have read the other two works in the series, but I recommend it.

“Let’s just keep it all in the spare bedroom,” Bellamy groaned, watching Clarke closely survey all the boxes that filled up her… their… living room.

“Or, we could just unpack out here. I like to keep that room clean in case someone needs to crash here,” she said, grabbing the scissors so she could start opening the first box. Bellamy glanced over his shoulder to see that it wasn’t late enough to start drinking… but, fuck, he really wanted to. He let out a huff, before plopping down on the couch next to Clarke, sliding a box in front of him.

“Not even sure if we have enough room for all this,” Bellamy muttered, as he started pulling out his pots and pans.

“Well, we have a lot of duplicates. So, not everything will stay,” Clarke said, narrowing her eyes at his salt and pepper shakers.

“Those have to stay. It’s an inside joke between me and Miller,” Bellamy said quickly, and Clarke let out a huff, putting them on the coffee table.

It had taken Bellamy long enough to reconcile himself to the fact that he had already moved in with Clarke. But, packing up the rest of his stuff and leaving his apartment was the last step. And, fuck, it was a painful step.

He and Clarke had spent every weekend for the past month packing up his stuff in his old apartment, and, he thought the chaos would be over once all his stuff got to her apartment. But, no… it was only the beginning.

“What do you even use this pan for?” Clarke asked, holding up the smallest pan he owned. It didn’t belong to the set he had, which Clarke had conceded was better than hers.

“I like to melt butter on that pan,” Bellamy said with a shrug, as he tried to make one of the cabinet drawers close… but it was too full.

“Do you do anything else with this pan?” she asked. His head shot up, narrowing his eyes at her.

“Well, no,” he stuttered, trying to think of an argument that would let him keep that pan.

“Bell, there isn’t great cabinet space in here. We have to start narrowing down what we keep for the kitchen,” Clarke groaned, before opening another cabinet, that was stuffed.

“I just don’t understand why we’re arguing over my pan, instead of your three different cupcake pans,” Bellamy muttered, pulling open the cabinet above her refrigerator.

“When I have to make stuff for bake sales, they speed up the baking process. Why don’t we talk about how we have to keep your massive crock pot over my smaller one, even though I have never seen you touch yours in the entire time that I’ve known you?” she asked with a smug grin.

“I used to use it a lot. And if we started actually cooking dinner instead of always ordering out, it would be better to have a larger crock pot,” Bellamy explained for the millionth time, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“But, the larger one takes up the entire bottom drawer, Bell. Now, we can’t store anything else there,” Clarke replied, looking just as frustrated as Bellamy felt. This was an argument that they had already had within the last hour… and it clearly wasn’t being put to bed any time soon.

It just seemed like an impossible task… finding places for all of Bellamy’s stuff when Clarke already had the entire apartment perfectly set up for her stuff. It wasn’t like when he moved in with Gina. They were both younger, had less stuff. It was easier, because they weren’t thinking about long term functions of some of these items.

“Why did we think this would be easy?” Bellamy asked with a small smile, and Clarke walked over to him, putting her head on his shoulder. He leaned down to kiss the top of her head.

“Because you already kind of live here,” she said, and he let out a huff.

“Maybe we just need more storage space,” Bellamy replied. It would solve a lot of the problems they were facing today, and keep the two of them from getting rid of some of the stuff they would want to have kept for down the road.

“It’s an apartment, Bell. What you see is what you get as far as storage options are concerned,” Clarke muttered.

“Well, maybe we should think about moving into a bigger place,” he suggested, without thinking about what that really meant. Then, he saw Clarke’s panicked eyes flicker up toward his. “I mean,” he stuttered, but there was no way to backtrack on that statement. “You bought this place back when you expected to live alone for a while. Like, you picked an apartment that was perfect for single you, but you didn’t consider what you would do when a charming, tall, brilliant boyfriend showed up,” he said with a smirk, and Clarke poked him in the side.

“I haven’t renewed my lease yet…” Clarke said, and he could see the wheels turning in her head. “But, it would be a lot of work to find a larger apartment that would allow pets.”

Right, Cleo… Bellamy forgot about her. But, they could still look. There had to be something that would work for the three of them.

“And if we couldn’t find an apartment, maybe we could look at a house. You know, then Cleo could have a backyard,” Bellamy replied.

“A house?” Clarke asked, and Bellamy glanced back down at her, seeing a nervous expression on her face. He immediately recognized his mistake.

“I mean, it’s just an idea,” he said casually, trying to make it seem like it’s not a big deal.

“You want to buy a house,” Clarke clarified, and Bellamy bit his bottom lip, thinking about this critically. It really didn’t make sense for them to go for a new apartment, especially when they would eventually end up moving out to the suburbs. And, they had a puppy that wasn’t going to stop growing any time soon. It would be so much easier to have a backyard for Cleo, instead of spending an hour at the dog park with her every single day. And, it would be a lot easier to move into a place that wasn’t previously his or hers. There wouldn’t be a designated place for anything, so they could start over.

“It’s just a place to live,” he said, even though he could see Clarke start to panic at the suggestion. “We could find a place that has everything we both want, a place that reflects both of us, instead of where you’ve been living since med school.”

“Bellamy, it’s a house. That’s just so…” Clarke trailed off, but he knew what she was going to say.

“This is the key thing all over again. It has the meaning that we assign to it, Clarke,” he retorted, and she rolled her eyes at him.

“No, this is different than the key. I could take the key back. But, this would be a huge financial investment for both of us,” she argued, and Bellamy clenched his jaw.

“We can rent for a while,” he suggested, and he knew that Clarke couldn’t argue with that. And, it frustrated her that she had no quick response for him. Then, he heard the sound of Cleo running toward the door.

“Oh, I need to take Cleo out,” Clarke said quickly, but Bellamy knew she was just avoiding continuing this discussion until she figured out how to win the argument. He let out a huff, as Clarke got the leash, and walked into their bedroom. He grabbed his laptop, and started looking at listings in the city.

And, just as he thought, there weren’t a lot of larger apartments that also allowed dogs. There were a few on the edge of town, but they were too far away from his office for him.

He started making a list of all the places he found that could work for them, but none of them were a great fit.

He barely heard Clarke come back in, and only realized she was back when Cleo jumped up onto the bed.

“What are you doing?” Clarke asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

“Looking at the only three apartments in the city that would work for us,” Bellamy said, not taking his eyes off the screen.

“Oh, come on,” Clarke groaned, as she pulled his laptop off his lap. He watched her smugly, as she realized what he had already figured out. “Fuck.”

“There are several neighborhoods that would have houses that would meet our needs and still be close enough to my office and your practice,” Bellamy argued, and Clarke’s eyes moved from the screen to look at him closely.

“Should we even look at a house, though?” she asked, and Bellamy clenched his eyes shut, leaning back onto the headboard. Then, he let out an unexpected huff when Cleo plopped down onto his lap.

“Clarke, we have to use two different closets for all our clothes. We’re fighting over the size of crock pots, when in reality, we could probably use both of them. And, Cleo would be really happy with a backyard,” Bellamy sighed, as Clarke put his laptop down on the desk. Then, she crawled into bed next to him, scratching Cleo behind her ear.

“It just seems so serious,” Clarke confessed, and Bellamy snaked an arm around her. She sighed as she leaned onto his chest.

“It doesn’t have to be. We’re only just now moving in together. It’s not like I’m suggesting we get married tomorrow,” Bellamy muttered, and Clarke started chuckling into his chest. He took his other hand and tilted Clarke’s head up, making her look at him. “It’s just so we can live together comfortably,” he said, before pressing a chaste kiss to her lips. She blinked a few times, thinking this over.

“It wouldn’t hurt to look,” she conceded, before burying her face into his neck.

 

They didn’t speak to anyone about looking at houses. They had to learn far too many times that news amongst their friends spread like wildfire. And, he didn’t need someone like Jasper or Octavia hyping up the house search to be something more than it was… a search for a new place to live.

He quickly figured out that he couldn’t open any emails from Clarke while on his work computer anymore, since Miller and Marcus had a tendency to pop into his cubicle at the wrong moment. Which meant that he would have to creep into the bathroom to check his email on his phone when Clarke sent him another house to look at.

He knew Octavia was starting to get suspicious. She was too smart not to know that something was up. Plus, she kept trying to invite herself over to the apartment, and would get frustrated when Bellamy informed her that they still hadn’t finished unpacking… even though it had been a month since the last of his stuff had been brought over.

The real test was lying to Wells… which Bellamy should have expected.

“It’s Jasper’s turn,” Wells snapped at Clarke, whose eyes flickered back to Bellamy, pleading for him to help her out. Everyone was at Wells’ apartment, getting ready for Sunday Funday, when Clarke dragged Wells into his kitchen for a private conversation.

“I know, and we’ll stay for most of it. But, we’ve got somewhere we’ve got to be at three,” Bellamy explained, and Wells’ eyes flickered back and forth between Clarke and him suspiciously.

“What’s going on at three?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Just somewhere we gotta be,” Clarke replied quickly, before grabbing Bellamy by the arm and dragging him back to the dining room before Wells could ask any more questions. But, this was the house that Clarke had been obsessing over, and they wanted to get to the open house.

Wells didn’t keep hammering Clarke with questions, however. No, he came after Bellamy.

“You two never skip out on Sunday Funday,” Wells said accusatorily, as Bellamy looked over the bowling alley café menu.

“Do you think Clarke would split the funnel cake with me, or would it be one of those things where she said she could share but really she would eat the entire thing when I got up to go to the bathroom?” Bellamy murmured, and Wells let out a groan.

“Is something wrong with you two? Are you going to church? What do people even do on Sundays if they aren’t doing Sunday Funday?” Wells asked, but Bellamy put a hand up, keeping his eyes on the menu.

“I guess I could always come back and order a second funnel cake if Clarke devours the whole thing, but she might eat the second one,” he mused, and Wells huffed, storming back toward the lanes.

It got worse at the park, since Clarke had been drug off by Harper, leaving Bellamy without back up for Wells.

“I don’t understand why you two are being so weird about this. Clarke literally tells me everything. Why can’t you guys tell you what you’re doing at three?” he groaned, plopping down on the bench next to Bellamy.

“Maybe we’re planning an elaborate surprise for you,” Bellamy teased, and Wells pulled out his phone, angrily typing into it. “What are you doing?”

“Looking up places that are open on Sundays, since it’s not like you guys could have an appointment or a meeting at the bank. I’m gonna get to the bottom of this.”

Bellamy snatched the phone out of Wells’ hands, raising an eyebrow at him. “This is why I asked Clarke to take away your key. We need boundaries,” Bellamy explained, and Wells scrunched his face up.

“Is Clarke pregnant? Is that why you two are acting weird?” Wells asked excitedly, and Bellamy snorted.

“No, of course not,” he said quickly, before adding, “I think.” He was almost ninety-five percent sure Clarke wasn’t pregnant. No, one hundred percent certain. Although, the doubt was creeping into his mind, so he sent Clarke a quick text to double check.

It took less than a minute for Clarke to storm over, with an annoyed expression on her face. “Did you seriously just text me to ask if I’m pregnant?” Clarke snapped, and Wells started chuckling.

“Okay, Wells asked me if you were, and I just needed to double check,” Bellamy said with a grin, but Clarke was shooting Wells an annoyed glare.

“You’re not going to let this go, are you?” Clarke asked him, before raising an eyebrow at Bellamy. He nodded, since it was clear that Wells would probably follow them to figure out what they were up to.

“You two are just being really secretive,” Wells said defensively. Clarke glanced over her shoulder, making sure none of their other friends were nearby.

“If you tell anyone this, you’re dead. Got it?” she snapped, and Wells nodded excitedly. “Bellamy and I are going to an open house,” she whispered, and Wells eyes widened, followed by a growing grin.

“You’re buying a house?” he almost shouted, before Bellamy clamped his hand over Wells’ mouth.

“We are just looking,” Clarke said, but Wells was only hearing what he wanted to hear… as always.

 

“How much you wanna bet that Wells has already told everyone?” Bellamy teased, as Clarke checked her lipstick in the car mirror.

“I told him that if he blew this one, he would be the last person to know if I ever get pregnant,” Clarke replied with a smug grin.

“If?” Bellamy asked, and Clarke opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. “Okay, a conversation for later,” he said, before Clarke started panicking, and she nodded, before reaching for her door handle.

There were already a few other people here looking at the house. He gripped Clarke’s hand tightly as they walked up the sidewalk. Of everything they had looked at, this one was Clarke’s favorite. And Bellamy liked that it was right on the corner, which meant that it had a slightly bigger front yard than most houses. It was far enough from her mom’s house so that Abby Griffin couldn’t just show up whenever she wanted, and close enough to Octavia’s house. It was a little bit bigger than what they had been looking for, but they could still afford it.

When they walked inside, the real estate agent was busy talking to another couple. He and Clarke walked through the downstairs, admiring the size of the living room. It would be perfect for having people over, he observed. And, the dining room was bigger than Wells’, which would be perfect for the times that they hosted Sunday Funday. He wasn’t too crazy about the paint color, but he knew that regardless of where they ended up, Clarke would insist on repainting anyways.

By the time they made it into the kitchen, Bellamy was just as sold as Clarke was.

“It’s even better than it looked in the pictures,” Clarke said, gesturing to the granite countertops. Bellamy chuckled at her excitement, before glancing toward the appliances.

“I used to give O so much shit for getting excited over her new stainless-steel appliances, but look at this stove,” Bellamy murmured. Clarke’s stove was getting a little old, but it was functional… but, this was so nice. Plus, there was a top and bottom oven, which would come in handy. Bellamy could actually cook in this kitchen.

“You’re worse than I am,” he heard Clarke tease, before he turned around. She was grinning at him excitedly, as he bit his lip.

“I could actually cook in here, Clarke,” he replied with a smug grin, and Clarke rolled her eyes. “But, I’m still not sold. There is an entire upstairs that I haven’t seen,” he replied, but he already knew that he was going to fall in love with this house.

The master bathroom was a little small, but that wasn’t really a deal breaker. It had adequate counter space, and a decent sized tub. It wasn’t spectacular, but it was just what they needed.

The closet, however, was perfect. He and Clarke wouldn’t have to split their clothes into the seasons and change them out with another closet anymore. It could all sit right here, and there was enough room for all of Clarke’s shoes to stay on her side of the closet so he wouldn’t trip over them.

“You’re in love with it, aren’t you?” Clarke teased, as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

“Maybe,” he shrugged, before kissing her forehead.

As they walked down the hallway, Bellamy glanced at the backyard from the upstairs window. The yard was already fenced in, which was just so fucking perfect. Then, he and Clarke started looking at the other rooms.

“I’m not even sure what we would use some of these rooms for,” Clarke whispered, as she opened one of the closets.

“You could have a room for all your painting stuff,” Bellamy said with a grin, leaning on the doorframe. And, as that realization sunk in for Clarke, Bellamy swears he fell even more in love with her. She glanced around the room with such pure excitement, Bellamy thought he could die from happiness.

“Or it could be an office, or a spare bedroom,” Clarke said noncommittedly, but he had already decided on this room. She was getting her painting space. He could already picture sneaking in here, finding her listening to her weird painting playlist on Spotify, as she got lost in her art. He could probably watch her for a while before she noticed he was there, before she turned around with specs of paint on her face, with her hair thrown up into a messy bun.

“This is the one, isn’t it?” Bellamy asked her, and she quickly turned her head back to him, a smile creeping on her face.

“We haven’t even finished looking,” Clarke tried to say, but he already knew that her heart was set on this house. And, now that he’d seen her in it, his heart was set on it too. “Come on, let’s look at the other rooms,” she said, almost flustered, as she grabbed him by the hand and tugged him into the next room.

 

“You’re overthinking this,” Bellamy whispered, as Clarke was working through the pros and cons list.

“This is a big decision. We need to make sure it’s the right one,” Clarke murmured, tapping her pencil on the notebook.

“Clarke,” he said, but she kept her brows furrowed at the paper. “Princess, look at me.” Her eyes flickered up to his, widening in confusion. “You’re doing it again.”

“Doing what?” she asked innocently, but she knew very well what he was talking about.

“What you always do, and I do it too. You’re overthinking this particular step,” he said, raising an eyebrow at her.

“I’m not overthinking. This just wasn’t something that I hadn’t planned on doing for a long time, probably not until I got married or engaged. So, there is a lot to consider here,” she said, gesturing to the cons side of the list. “I mean, everyone on that street is married with kids. Would we even be happy when we’re not there yet?”

“Yet?” he teased, and Clarke bit her lip nervously. “Alright, we need to have that conversation now.”

“No,” Clarke whined, turning onto her stomach to bury her face into the pillow.

“Princess,” he said sternly, and she slowly glanced up at him with a nervous expression on her face. “I know that we both get a little uncomfortable when it comes to our relationship moving forward. But, for both of our sanity’s sake, will you please let me just be bluntly honest with you for a few minutes?” She nodded, and slowly sat up. “Clarke, I love you, and I am happy with where we are right now. But, we have never had the conversation about what we want for the future.”

Clarke opened her mouth to protest, but Bellamy narrowed his eyes at her quickly. She had gotten out of this conversation too many times already.

“I can guess at what you want based on little things that you’ve let slip since I met you, but I’m not gonna know for certain until you tell me. What I want, eventually, is to live in a house with you, to be married to you, and to, eventually, have kids with you.”

He watched her eyes closely, waiting for something to betray how she actually felt.

“Is that the same thing you want, eventually?” he asked bluntly.

“Of course,” Clarke confessed, and Bellamy let out a relieved sigh, before pulling her into his chest.

“Then, think of this house as the foundation for that. Moving into it doesn’t mean that we’re ready to get married or have kids or anything else we aren’t ready for. It’ll just make it easier for us to keep moving forward, in a place that has the room for us to grow,” he whispered, before peppering kisses all over her forehead.

“Okay,” she finally replied, before Bellamy pressed a slow kiss to her lips.

“Okay?” he asked excitedly, running his fingers through her hair. She nodded excitedly, and Bellamy’s lips crashed back into hers, rolling her onto her back. She moaned into his mouth, her fingers resting on the back of his neck.

 

“That goes upstairs,” he heard Clarke order, followed by a loud groan from Roan.

“This better be the last time we move. I don’t think our friends will help us again,” Bellamy teased, before pressing a kiss to her cheek.

“I once had to drive through the night with him to pick up some furniture from his mom’s house. He will help me move as many times as I ask,” Clarke said smugly, and Bellamy rolled his eyes, before walking back out to the moving truck. He spotted Octavia holding Gus, pointing to a butterfly excitedly.

“There’s my best bud,” Bellamy smirked, as he walked up to them. Octavia put Gus in his arms, rolling her eyes at him.

“I think he’s gonna love having sleepovers at the new house,” Octavia joked, but Bellamy was super excited about that idea.

“I am always game to babysit,” he replied, as Gus grabbed onto his nose excitedly. “And, Aunt Clarke loves you,” he said with a big smile.

“I can’t believe you two bought a house. It took you two forever to even admit you were dating,” Octavia groaned, as Bellamy bounced Gus.

“Gus!” Clarke said excitedly, and Bellamy turned to see Clarke rushing down the front steps toward them, looking giddy. He passed Gus off to her, seeing her face light up as Gus rested his head on her chest.

“Octavia, a little help would be nice!” he heard Lincoln shout, and Octavia groaned, before walking over to help him with the boxes they had brought over in their car.

“No pressure or anything, but I totally volunteered us to have Gus over for a night or two,” Bellamy said, and Clarke pressed a kiss to Gus’ forehead.

 

It took forever for them to get all their friends out of the house, especially since Clarke insisted on getting them all pizza as a reward. Bellamy was pretty certain that Jasper was going to fall asleep there. And, he shouldn’t have been surprised that Wells was the last one out the door.

But, as soon as the door shut behind Wells, Bellamy pushed Clarke up against the wall, pressing a searing kiss to her lips. She was shocked at first, but slowly melted into him, throwing her arms around his neck.

“I love you,” he whispered against her lips, earning a huge grin from her.

“I love you too,” she replied sweetly.

 

They still fought over where to put everything, of course. And, it took a few months for it to actually felt like they lived there. Well, for him and Clarke, at least. Cleo made herself at home almost immediately.

It was a transition, like most things involving Clarke. He had lived in an apartment for all his adult life. It was hard getting used to having neighbors that would chat with him, or invite them to barbecues. And, the neighbors always pestered him and Clarke about when they were going to get married.

They would always reply that it wasn’t the right time, and then when the moment was right, they would know. Bellamy wasn’t sure if that was entirely true, since he should have figured out very quickly that Clarke was the one, yet spent so much of their relationship fighting with himself over her. But, he knew about the house.

Yet, he wasn’t as sure that he would _know_ it was time to propose. He had too much anxiety about the idea of proposing again. When he debated it in his head, he would have flashbacks to Gina, to how quickly everything fell apart as soon as he asked her. He knew that what he had with Clarke was different, he did. He just needed to feel a little more secure in that knowledge before he could move forward.

But, it didn’t take long. He got home late for work one day, and Clarke had already beaten him back. He called out for her when he closed the front door, but couldn’t figure out where she was. He walked upstairs, hearing the faint sound of some podcast coming from her painting room, and he rolled his eyes.

He walked in, seeing Cleo fast asleep on the dog bed in the corner, and Clarke biting her bottom lip, cocking her head at a blank canvas. Bellamy stood there for a few minutes, watching her.

“Oh, sorry,” she finally mumbled when she noticed him, and he let out a slight chuckle.

“Just ignore me,” he replied, grinning at her like an idiot.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Clarke asked, tilting her head at him, laughing slightly at him.

“I just love you, I don’t know,” he shrugged, and she narrowed her eyes at him. There was no way to explain to her what he was thinking about in this moment… he couldn’t put it into words.

He was seeing a perfect moment that he had pictured when they were first looking at the house, and it was even more beautiful than he imagined. And, he started thinking about all those other moments he pictured… proposing, getting married, having their first kid… and he wasn’t sure he wanted to wait any longer to start making those moments real.

He walked over to her, as she turned back to her canvas. He pressed a kiss to her shoulder, wrapping his arm around her waist.

“I guess I love you too,” she conceded playfully, turning her head to press a kiss to his cheek. And, even after she turned back to focus on her canvas, Bellamy didn’t move. He stayed right behind her, occasionally pressing kisses to the top of her head… trying to figure out exactly how he should ask her the most important question he would ever ask in his life.

**Author's Note:**

> I've already planned the last one-shot for this series :)
> 
> Also, hit me up on Tumblr @asroarke


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